my thought on EDU3234...

finally, the semester has come to an end and it marked the end of EDU3234 course. after a long 14 weeks, i have successfully finished two major works of the course which are position paper and research paper. these two writing projects allow me to polish my writing skills and at the same time i gain a lot of information regarding the topics that i use in both of the writing projects. plus, the research paper give me some exposure on the real research paper if i'm going to pursue for a master or even phd in the future (i really hope that i will, someday...).
moreover, i do learn a lot of things from the lecture by Dr. Edwin on various aspect of literature and how literature can be taught in the language classroom. all the lessons are clearly an eye opener for me and make me thing of my own role as a future teacher. it is very interesting to know that music and paintings can be use in literature classroom and i do believe that using other types of literature rather than writings would increase students' interest in the lesson.
in conclusion, i find that this course is beneficial for my future as an English teacher and also as a human in general. ^^

my opinion on doing research paper.

hmm... (a very deep thinking mode)
personally, i think that doing research paper is an unforgettable experience. not because it is a 3000 words assignment (though i do feel some weight regarding it) but because the time i did the paper is a time when i had to do various other assignments that is due on the same week as my first draft research paper due. i had a headache thinking of organizing all my works that is due in 2 weeks time. some of the works that i had to do are lesson plans, position paper and also CBI. after thinking 'critically', i decided to finish all other assignments on the first week and i will devoted my time on the second week for the research paper.thankfully my working mode is a success and i'm able to finish other assignments in one week (miraculously). now the time has come for me to do the research paper. as i had already think of the issue i want to do in the research paper, outlining my research paper is not that difficult but writing it is a challenge. this is because, i cannot make myself focus on the project and i tend to be distracted by other thing (very bad of me..). however, i did finish it on time and no harm done. from the experience of doing the research paper i learned that i need to do my work quickly and procrastinate is not an option.

my opinion on doing position paper...

position paper that i have done in my first half of my course work semester, is an eye opener experience. this is because previously i had a 'not so good' memory on writing and i always had a very difficult time in writing long assignment though i know that i can do it.in doing the position paper, i realize that if i have interest in the issue that i want to discuss in the paper, i can write a lot and that is what happened in my position paper. my topic for my position paper is on the issue of companionship in "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck and "Of Mice and Men" is a very good and interesting novel on friendship and companionship. i had a good time reading the novel as the novel shows various emotions and the way John Steinbeck writes the novel allows me to understand the story easily as the language in the novel is not really hard and the story itself makes me feel close to the story. that is why i have a lot to say on the issue and it makes my writing experience a good memory.

playing with limericks

limerick is a five-line poem written with one couplet and one triplet. today we had a chance creating a limerick and guest what... it is really fun!! I'm personally like creative writing and creating poems are some of the thing that i do in my spare time (not lately though...). when Dr. Edwin asked us to create a limerick poem by using the templates given in the coursework book, he is actually giving us the way of using the activity in the literature classroom. by allowing students to create a poem with a help of template, they can have a hands on opportunity of writing their own piece of literature. this is because, when i did the activity, i feel happy and i enjoy the activity plus at the same time i do learn something and it is creating a poem. obviously i will try using this activity in my future classroom. here, i put my group limerick poem that we've created during the activity:
i once met a clown from Siberia.
every day he made people laugh like hysteria.
but whenever he breaks the law.
the clown ran away on a trishaw.
the strange clumsy clown from Siberia.

classical music?

one thing for sure, i love music. classical music? i'm not sure whether i'm a fan of clssical music but one thing for sure that i appreciate good music and it can come from various types of music whether it is classical, pop, rock or even ballad. in one of my lecture with Dr. Edwin, he suggested the use of music in literature classroom as it will make the lesson more interesting and worthwhile especially classical music. after listening to some classical music played by Dr. Edwin, i can see that some of the songs are the songs that i like and i do think that this types of music would interest the students as it allows students to interpret the mood of the music and at the same time they can interpret the tone or even the theme of the lesson that they are going to learn that day (if the song is inculcate in the lesson). one of the song that i like is 'rhapsody in blue'. it is an interesting piece of art and i do enjoy listening to it. i'm not sure why i like the music but the sound is so synchronize and beautiful and the song is fun and probably it makes the music is so interesting! ^^

my experience meeting mr tham siew inn

i am very fortunate that i had a marvelous chance of visiting an art gallery owned by Mr. Tham Siew Inn in malacca recently. it was a memorable experience and i learn a lot from the visit. all the paintings in the art gallery are beautiful and interesting. most of the paintings by Mr. Than are inspired by nature and i can see that he is so interested in nature. as the art gallery is also his living space, i can see that he devoted himself to nature. he has a wonderful garden in the middle of the house and one of his d=son mentioned that the landscape is done by Mr. Tham himself. the son also mentioned that he would spend some times at the small garden and he sometimes get some new ideas to his new painting by looking at the small garden. i am so interesed in Mr. Tham's works and i want to consider his works as my teaching material when i become a teacher in the near future. this is because, most of his works allow for various interpretation and i wanted to improve my students' interpretation skill. last but not least, the trip was interesting and memorable and i hope that i would have another chance to visit him again. ^^

the us of other types of literature in teaching literature

besides the common types of literature such as novel, short story and poem, there are many other types of literature (material) that can be use in literature classroom. some of the example of other types of literature is paintings and songs. both of these materials are interesting and it is good to be use in the literature classroom. this is because, other types of literature can enhance the students understanding of the texts they are learning in the classroom. other form of literature can be use as a variation and it would make the learning process more interesting as they have other form of literature to look and study rather the common types of literature which are always in the form of writing/text. moreover, by using material such as paintings, students would have the chance to improve their interpretation skill as they need to interpret the meaning of the painting. i do think that it would make an interesting lesson!! ^^